The device immediately pinged with a notification.
Henry frowned, assuming Joy was texting again with more unwanted dating advice. But when he opened the alert, his breath caught.
“Congratulations! We’ve found your fated mate.”
He stared at the screen in disbelief. The match had come through instantly, as if the algorithm had been waitingspecifically for his profile to complete the connection. A fuzzy warmth spread through his chest as his bear stirred with sudden interest.
Beside the 100% match percentage was a small profile picture of a woman with bright eyes and an even brighter smile. Her curly brown hair was pulled into two puffy ponytails, and she appeared to be standing in what looked like a laboratory. Her profile name was Sun Bear.
Henry’s thumb hovered over the screen, torn between wanting to see more and an instinctive need to reject the match immediately. Instead, he did something between the two, letting out a dismissive grunt while his heart hammered in his chest. Then he abruptly shut off the phone and set it face-down on the nightstand.
He stripped into his underwear and laid on the too-soft bed, staring at the ceiling. Sleep refused to come. His mind raced with the implications of the match.
His bear paced restlessly beneath his skin, more alert and interested than it had been in years. Something about Sun Bear with her sunshine smile, had awoken a primal recognition he couldn’t explain or deny. Henry rolled onto his side, shutting his eyes. It was just an algorithm. It meant nothing.
But as sleep finally claimed him, the image of that smiling woman followed him into his dreams.
Chapter
Five
Ivy woke before her alarm,stretching among the soft cotton sheets, her curly hair splayed across the pillow in a tangled halo. Something had pulled her from sleep, a feeling of anticipation she couldn’t quite place.
Her apartment was a carefully curated reflection of her personality. Potted plants occupied every available surface, from delicate ferns trailing from macramé hangers to sturdy succulents arranged in artistic groupings. Scientific journals shared shelf space with well-loved novels, and framed botanical illustrations adorned walls painted in soothing sage green. Unlike the sterile organization of her laboratory, her living space exuded warmth with her boho chic aesthetic.
Ivy padded barefoot across hardwood floors to the compact kitchen, where she measured coffee beans before grinding them. The familiar ritual anchored her morning while her mind already raced ahead to the day’s tasks. Nature center construction updates, soil analysis results, meeting preparations—all arranged in neat mental categories as she waited for the coffee to brew.
She reached for her phone, expecting the usual barrage of emails and notifications. Instead, a distinctive mate.com alert caught her attention.
“Congratulations! We’ve found your fated mate.”
Ivy nearly dropped her phone. Her fingers trembled slightly as she tapped the notification. The screen opened to reveal her 100% match.
Her heart raced as she clicked to view the profile. Username “Hermit Bear.” The profile photo showed a tall, broad-shouldered man in a forest service uniform standing beside a towering pine. Dark hair fell slightly too long around his face, giving him a rugged magnetism that made it impossible to look away. His expression was serious, almost stern, as if uncomfortable being photographed.
The profile description was sparse. “34. Forest Ranger. Live alone in a cabin miles from town. Prefer solitude and wildlife to people and parties.”
Something primal stirred inside Ivy as she stared at the image. Her inner bear, normally a quiet presence in her human form, suddenly roared to life with an insistence she had never experienced before. The sensation was visceral and overwhelming.
A tingling warmth spread from her core outward, prickling along her skin as if every cell in her body was reorienting itself toward this unknown man.
The scientific part of her brain attempted to process this reaction. She had studied mate-bond neurochemistry extensively during her graduate work. The sudden flood of recognition hormones, the sympathetic nervous systemresponse, the instantaneous rewiring of neural pathways—all documented physiological responses to finding one’s true mate. But experiencing it firsthand was entirely different.
She nervously tapped the message button, then hesitated, fingers hovering over the keyboard. What did one say to a newly discovered fated mate? After drafting and deleting three different messages, she finally settled on something simple but warm.
“Hi Hermit Bear, I’m Ivy Bright from the Bright Institute for Shifters on Fate Mountain. I was surprised and excited to see our 100% match this morning! I’d love to get to know you.”
She added a smiling emoji, then immediately deleted it, then added it again. Too casual? Too formal? After agonizing for another minute, she finally pressed send, immediately regretting at least three word choices.
Ivy placed her phone on the counter and tried to focus on her morning routine. She sipped her coffee, prepared a quick breakfast of yogurt and fresh berries, and selected an outfit appropriate for her construction site visit. Yet every few minutes, she found herself checking for a response, watching for the notification light to blink.
Nothing.
“He’s probably already in the forest,” she reasoned aloud, running a comb through her hair. “Rangers start early. He might not check his phone until evening.”
Still, disappointment nagged at her as she gathered her bags and keys. The bear inside her was restless and frustrated. Having identified its mate, it wanted immediate connection, not patient waiting.
By mid-morning, Ivy had arrived at the construction site. Ronald Vance greeted her with blueprint updates, pointing out the progress on the eastern wing framing. Workers called greetings as she passed, each one receiving a personalized response about their families or weekend plans.
